Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s World No. 11 Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan have successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the 2023 Malaysia Masters by beating World No. 9 Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota of Japan in a thrilling match that lasted for one hour and 51 minutes.
In the first game, Tan/Muralitharan were struggling to keep up with Fukushima/Hirota’s style of play to go down 13-21.
However, in the second set, Tan/Muralitharan managed to fight back to win the set 21-19 and force a deciding set.
In the deciding set, Fukushima/Hirota took an early lead, but Pearly-Thinaah tied the score at 6-6. They then took the lead and held on to it, despite a brief interruption from the referee, to win the set 21-16.
Tan/Muralitharan will now face World No. 5 Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong of Korea in the semi-finals.
In men’s doubles, World No. 26 Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun achieved a personal milestone by upsetting former world champions and current World No. 6 Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia.
Both pairs were tied at 21-21 before Man/Tee managed to clinch the first set 23-21. The second set was equally intense, with both pairs leveled at 16-16. However, Man/Tee emerged victorious with a 21-17 win, securing their spot in the semi-finals.
They will meet World No. 9 Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin of Indonesia on Saturday. Carnando/Marthin defeated another Malaysian pair – the World No. 2 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-19 in another quarter-final action.
Another Malaysian men’s pair – Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi also faltered in the quarter-finals after putting up a spirited fight, but lost to Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae 15-21, 21-16, 21-14. Kang/Seo will take on Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Kodai Naraoka and Lin Chun-Yi produced an epic men’s singles match that lasted two hours, and Lin eventually beat Naraoka 17-21, 30-29, 21-19 to play Weng Hong Yang of China on Saturday.
Highlights of Kodai Naraoka vs. Lin Chun-Yi in the 2023 Malaysia Masters quarter-finals:
